Kick in the Pants 2015 winner

Fox News Network

We dish out a ‘Kick in the Pants’ to the Fox News Network to emphasise the need for balance and clarity in the news. The news, after all, should be ‘the news’. At the hands of the Fox News Network, it’s often provocative and deeply biased opinion dressed up as fact. If it isn’t the news we’re hearing, what is it? Whatever it is should be made clear to an often suggestible audience relying on truth and accuracy.

Simply put, the Fox News Network plays on fear in a sensationalist manner to generate interest and audience numbers. The presenters on the station, notably Bill O’Reilly, regularly push hysterical extremist views. This would be fine if the station were promoting itself to its viewers as entertainment television. In the absence of such a declaration, we’re happy to give Fox News a richly deserved Kick in the Pants.